Amy C .

Fine burg
Homewood High School
Birmingham, Ala b ama

afine bur@homewood.k12.al.us

A 7-Day
Unit Plan for
High School
Psychology

POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY

E dite d by C harles L. Brewer

Furman University
Gre enville, South C arolina
 Contents

2 Acknowledgements

3 Procedural Timeline

4 Content Outline

15 Activities

15 I. CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITIES

15 II. CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
16 Activity 2.1 Daily Mood Form
17 Activity 3.1 Satisfaction With Life Scale
18 Activity 4.1 Creating Flow Experiences
20 Activity 5.1 Measuring Optimism
21 Activity 5.2 Imagining Your Future:
The Hope Scale
22 Activity 6.1 A Beautiful Day:
Applying Principles of Positive Psychology
23 Activity 6.2 Pleasurable Versus Philanthropic Activities—
Which Bring More Happiness?

25 Transparency Masters

27 Transparency Master A
Wealth and Well-Being
28 Transparency Master B
Graphical Representation of Flow
29 Transparency Master C
Activities That Require Skill and Challenge
30 Transparency Master D
Activities That DO NOT Require Skill and Challenge

31 Handout Masters

33 Handout Master A
Daily Mood Form
34 Handout Master B
Satisfaction With Life Scale
35 Handout Master C
Optimism Questionnaire
41 Handout Master D
Scoring the Optimism Questionnaire
44 Handout Master E
The Goals Scale

45 Suggested Reading

45 References
 Acknowledgements

This project has been an incredible experience for me in many ways.

First and foremost, working on this unit plan has exposed me to the
field of positive psychology, giving me a new perspective not only on
the teaching of psychology as a whole, but in my own life. The field’s
pursuit of the scientific basis of optimal experiences and human
potential have given me hope that psychology of the future will
not only focus on curing the ills of humanity, but also on maximizing
the strengths of humanity. I became a teacher to make a positive
difference in the lives of my students, and through applying positive
psychology, all teachers can find strategies to meet such a lofty goal.

The members of the Positive Psychology Teaching Task Force—

Martin E. P. Seligman, Randal M. Ernst, Charles L. Brewer,
Charles T. Blair-Broeker, C. R. Snyder, Karen Anderson,
David G. Myers, and Laura King—have been instrumental in helping
gather the information for this unit and in providing feedback during
the writing and editing process. I want to thank Marty Seligman and
Randy Ernst for their faith and trust in me to accomplish this
monumental goal. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Charles Brewer for
his insightful and “divine” hand in the editing process. I would also like
to thank Rick Snyder for his incredible help in providing information and
feedback on the content of the unit. Thanks also to Dave Myers who
2 was helpful in providing permission to use his work and in guiding me
during the process of seeking permission from publishers.

Many others outside the task force have been helpful in providing
feedback, resources, and permission to this project: Ed Diener, for his
work on subjective well-being, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and
Daily Mood Form; Martin Bolt and Worth Publishers, for Dr. Bolt’s
activity descriptions and permission to use them in this unit; and
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, for his permission to use his work on flow.

Most importantly, I would like to thank my husband Ben Fineburg for

his constant nurturing and support in both my personal and professional
lives. His constant belief and encouragement in me and of me have
helped me develop into the person I am today. I have faith that
he will have the same positive influence on our son, Micah Samuel,
as he grows and matures.

It is my hope that teaching positive psychology will bring a new

perspective to the teaching of psychology as a whole.
 Procedural Timeline

Lesson I. Positive Psychology:

A New Perspective on Human Behavior
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE A

Lesson II. Positive Subjective Experiences:

A General Overview

Activity 2.1 Daily Mood Form

Transparency Master A
Wealth and Well-Being

Lesson III. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Past

Activity 3.1 The Satisfaction With Life Scale

Transparency Master A
Wealth and Well-Being

Lesson IV. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Present

Activity 4.1 Creating Flow Experiences

CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES B & C
Transparency Master B
Graphical Representation of Flow
Transparency Master C
3
Activities That Require Skill and Challenge
Transparency Master D
Activities That DO NOT Require
Skill and Challenge

Lesson V. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Future

Activity 5.1 Measuring Optimism

Activity 5.2 Exploring Your Future: The Hope Scale
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE D

Lesson VI. The Good Life: Defining Character

by Applying Positive Subjective Experiences

Activity 6.1 A Beautiful Day:

Applying Positive Psychology
Activity 6.2 Pleasurable Versus Philanthropic Activities:
Which Bring More Happiness?
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES E & F
 Content Outline

I. Positive Psychology:
A New Perspective on Human Behavior

A. Psychology’s focus before World War II was threefold:

1. Curing mental illness
2. Making the lives of all people more fulfilling
3. Identifying and nurturing high talent

B. After the war, psychology’s focus shifted to curing

mental illness and has been largely successful.
1. According to Seligman (as cited in Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,
2000), 14 different disorders have been identified and can be
successfully treated.
2. The DSM-IV is a helpful tool for psychologists in identifying and
treating mental disorders.

C. As society becomes wealthier and healthier,

we might expect that people would become happier and
more fulfilled, but this is not the case.
1. Of the people in the United States, 15 to 20% will fall prey to
severe depression, and about half will experience a milder form of

4
depression at some point in life (Saroyan, 1998).
2. Today’s average age of onset of depression is 15 years old,
compared to 30 years old many years ago (McGuire, 1998).

D. Positive Psychology seeks to refocus the science of

psychology toward the other two goals.
1. Definition of Positive Psychology—Positive Psychology is
the scientific study of optimal human functioning. It aims to
discover and promote factors that allow individuals and
communities to thrive (Sheldon, Frederickson, Rathunde,
& Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
2. Goal of Positive Psychology—The goal of Positive Psychology is
to consider optimal human functioning at several levels, including
biological, experiential, personal, relational, institutional, cultural,
and global. To accomplish this, studying the following is necessary:
a. The dynamic relationships among the processes
in the levels listed above
b. The human ability to create order and meaning in response
to inevitable adversity
c. The means by which “the good life” may emerge from
these processes (Sheldon, Frederickson, Rathunde,
& Csikszentmihalyi, 2000)

E. Positive Psychology seeks to understand and

encourage factors that allow individuals, communities, and
societies to flourish.

CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE A

 Content Outline...continued

II. Positive Subjective Experiences:

A General Overview
A. Positive subjective experiences indicate the degree to which
people are achieving a goal based on what they believe
to be important.
For example, if people value making straight As in high school, then
doing so will result in positive feelings about themselves and those
around them. Not doing so will result in negative feelings toward
themselves and those around them. The same can be said for
anything of value—volunteer work, fixing up old cars, yard work,
one’s job, making Mom and Dad proud, and so on.

B. Several factors influence the extent of

positive subjective experiences:
1. Temperament—Temperament consists of the inborn qualities that
determine how well people interact with the environment.
2. Learned positive outlook on life—People learn optimism and hope
through experience. Also, people achieve greater life satisfaction
when they work for things they value rather than merely for things
that bring immediate pleasure.
3. Strongly held important values and goals related to these values–
People who have clear goals and make progress working toward
them report higher levels of subjective well-being.
5
4. Cultural differences—Although income level predicts positive
experience, so do cultural differences. For example, Latin cultures
report higher levels of well-being than one might predict from their
incomes. Also, psychological measures, such as self-esteem,
more accurately predict positive subjective experience in
individualistic cultures (United States or Western European
cultures) than in collectivist ones (Japanese or communist-
based cultures).
5. Age—People’s ages bring a wealth of perspective and experience
that colors how they view life situations. For example, older people
tend to view illness as being a part of the normal aging process
than younger people. They have more confidence in their ability
to deal with the problem and prefer a greater quality of life
to mere survival (Williamson, 2000).

C. Understanding the sources of positive subjective experience

leads to better individuals and societies.
People who have positive subjective experiences often
1. Contribute more to their communities
2. Have better relationships with others
3. Are more creative in some realms
4. Excel in sports and academics
5. Provide leadership
6. Are models for others
7. Propose new ideas in terms of science, business,
and other life arenas
8. Help others
9. Are less of a drain (relative to those without such positive
experiences) on psychological and physical health systems
 Content Outline...continued

Activity 2.1 Daily Mood Form

Transparency Master A Wealth and Well-Being

III. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Past

A. Well-being—Well-being is the pervasive sense that life has been

and is good. It is an ongoing perception that this time in one’s
life, or even life as a whole, is fulfilling, meaningful, and
pleasant (Myers, 1993).
1. Dynamic equilibrium theory—Well-being remains relatively
consistent over the life span because of personality, although
current events in people’s lives can either raise or lower
well-being temporarily (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999).
2. People who have a high sense of well-being tend to be extraverts,
optimists, and worry-free.
3. The types of goals people have determine how much well-being
they are experiencing with life in general.
a. Intrinsic goals are positively correlated with well-being.
b. Extrinsic goals are negatively correlated with well-being.
4. Contrary to popular belief, well-being does not rise

6 when income rises.

a. Wealth does not mean well-being—According to University of
Michigan researcher Ronald Inglehart (as cited in Myers,
1993), people from wealthier countries report higher levels of
well-being than those in poorer countries on average, but
levels of well being differ from country to country.
West Germans average twice as much personal income as
the Irish, but the Irish report being happier. The same can be
seen with the wealthier French as compared to their
Belgian neighbors.
b. Within countries, the richer are not always happier. Living in
abject poverty does not promote happiness, but having more
than one needs has little effect on one’s well-being. Diener
and colleagues (Diener, Horowitz, & Emmons, 1985)
interviewed 49 of the wealthiest Americans as listed by
Forbes magazine and found them to be only slightly
happier than average.
5. Health does not correlate with well-being. How people view their
health depends on their emotional state and objective measures
of their health from doctors (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999).
a. People generally need a basic level of health wherein pain
does not interfere with activities (Williamson, 1998).
b. People with high levels of well-being and hope usually return
to normal levels of well-being after unpleasant diagnoses of
illness (Synder, 2000).
c. The exception to this rule is for people with multiple disabling
conditions. Although their well-being eventually goes up after
initial diagnosis, they usually do not return to normal levels of
well-being that were present before diagnosis.
 Content Outline...continued

B. Satisfaction—Satisfaction is the feeling that one has

accomplished a goal during a certain period of time.
1. As long as people feel they are reaching their goals somehow,
satisfaction remains unaffected. Although the ultimate goal may be
high, even small achievements can foster feelings of satisfaction.
2. People use social comparison to determine how well they are
achieving satisfaction with life.
a. Adaptation-level principle—People’s satisfaction is relative to
their prior experience. People tend to compare their present
levels of satisfaction with past experiences. When situations
change for the better or worse in relation to perceived goals,
levels of satisfaction are affected. For example, students who
receive a higher grade than expected both feel good and
praise the teacher; whereas those who receive a lower grade
than expected both feel lousy and trash the teacher.
Thus, a B grade could mean something quite different to the
student who expected an F as compared to a student who
expected an A, thus changing levels of satisfaction with the
class (Snyder & Clair, 1976).
b. Relative deprivation principle—People’s happiness is relative
to others’ attainment of happiness. How happy or frustrated
people feel depends on with whom they compare
themselves. People readily identify others as being rich or
beautiful, but rarely believe themselves to be so.
7
For example, to someone making $10,000 a year, $50,000
seems like wealth; but to someone making $500,000 a year,
$1,000,000 seems like wealth.

Activity 3.1 The Satisfaction With Life Scale

Transparency Master A Wealth and Well-Being

IV. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Present

A. Flow—Flow is a state of optimal experience. Flow activities are

done for the sake of doing them and not for extrinsic rewards.
1. Qualities of flow experiences include the following:
a. Attention that is freely invested and centered on achieving
goals—Choosing to spend time in activities and working
toward goals encourages flow.
b. The lack of psychological disorder—When people experience
psychic entropy, they tend to lose flow. Psychic entropy is
what happens when people get information that conflicts with
their existing intentions or that distracts them from carrying
out their intentions (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). The less stress
and distraction, the greater the opportunity for flow.
c. Merging action and awareness—Fully concentrating on an
activity that requires all of one’s relevant skills produces flow.
People in flow situations describe themselves as being so
focused on the activity that they do not notice distractions
that come along.
 Content Outline...continued

d. Challenges that require skill—Without a skill in an

activity, the activity becomes meaningless. For example,
for those who are not skilled at analyzing English literature,
reading a novel by Dickens seems boring and pointless.
However, to an expert, such a novel contains nuances that
are both exciting and meaningful.
e. Clear goals and feedback—Goals must be clear, attainable,
and meaningful, and feedback must be immediate if flow is
to be experienced. For example, the tennis player knows his
goal is to hit the ball over the net successfully, even aiming
at certain spots to increase the challenge. However, a person
whose goal is to watch TV all day usually does not
experience flow because the goal is ambiguous (how long is
“all day?”) and is not challenging or meaningful.
f. The lack of worry about losing control of the situation–
Although people in flow situations are usually engaging in
activities that could lead to failure, they often do not fear
failure because they believe they possess the necessary skill
to accomplish the goal. There are two types of “dangers”
people experience in flow situations:
i. An objective danger, which is an unpredictable physical
event that a person can prepare for in advance.
8 For example, rock climbers can prepare for a
sudden storm, avalanches, and so on, that are
objective dangers.
ii. A subjective danger, which is a danger that arises from
a person’s lack of skill. This danger can be overcome
through discipline and preparation. For example, rock
climbers who lack the experience to determine their
limits (physical and psychological) should gradually take
on more challenging climbs to gain this skill.
g. The transformation of time—Time seems to slip away without
notice. During flow experiences, what one perceives as a
short period of time usually becomes hours without a
second thought.
h. The loss of self-consciousness—People in flow experiences
are not worried about the perceptions of others or feelings of
inadequacy. Remember that attention is so concentrated that
there is no room for such distractions.
2. Enjoyment versus pleasure—A big difference
a. Pleasure—Pleasure is the good feeling that comes from
satisfying homeostatic needs like hunger. Feelings of
pleasure are usually temporary.
b. Enjoyment—This is the good feeling people experience when
they are challenged beyond homeostatic pursuits. Enjoyable
experiences produce flow.
3. “Microflow” activities are activities that people engage in during
boring or tedious activities. For example, during a boring lecture,
a student may doodle intricate designs in the margins of her
notebook. This activity provides sufficient challenge to the student
but does not distract her to the point that she cannot pay attention
when the lecturer begins to discuss something of interest.
 Content Outline...continued

4. Areas in which people experience flow

a. Work—Attempting to transform mind-numbing jobs into
meaningful challenges promotes work as a flow experience.
For example, assembly-line workers may set hourly
production goals for themselves and then try to beat those
goals throughout the day. Each new goal requires more and
more skill to accomplish.
b. Hobbies/leisure activities—The more time and energy a
leisure activity involves, the more enjoyable. For example,
socializing with friends is more enjoyable than watching TV.

B. Happiness
1. People tend to report themselves as happy. One third of
Americans say they are very happy, with only 1 in 10 saying they
are “not too happy.” Most describe themselves as being “pretty
happy.” Some possible explanations for these levels of happiness:
a. Tendency to be agreeable—People over-report good things.
This phenomenon can be seen in survey research with
people exhibiting social desirability—the desire to look good
for others. Also, demand characteristics come into play when
people want to give the researchers what they think
they are looking for.
b. People’s momentary moods—In positive moods, people view
the world with a “rose-colored mirror” in that they are positive
9
in viewing themselves but are less benign in their views of
others (Sigmon and Snyder, 1993). In negative moods,
people see the world as being ugly, depressing, and hostile.
2. Qualities of happy people include
a. Self-esteem—Self-esteem is a self-referential mood that
reflects one’s appraisal of success or failure in important life
goal pursuits. People who believe themselves to be relatively
competent report being happier, thus they do not just “feel
good about themselves,” but “feel good about themselves for
having just succeeded.” However, high, unwarranted self-
esteem can lead to problems such as divorce and violence.
b. Personal control—People who have a sense of personal
control in their lives are happier.
c. Optimism—People who believe bad situations are not their
fault, do not always interfere with life, and do not permeate
into all aspects of life are happier.
d. Extraversion—Extraverts are more involved with people,
have a larger circle of friends, engage more often in
rewarding activities, experience more affection, and have
more social support. Extraverts tend to be more cheerful
and high-spirited as well.
e. Hope—People who exhibit high levels of hope tend to be
happier as they pursue goals and challenges.
 Content Outline...continued

Activity 4.1 Creating Flow Experiences

CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES B & C
Transparency Master B
Graphical Representation of Flow
Transparency Master C
Activities That Require Skill and Challenge
Transparency Master D
Activities That DO NOT Require
Skill and Challenge

V. Positive Subjective Experiences of the Future

A. Optimism—Optimism is the belief that bad events
are temporary, are not one’s own fault, and are confined to
present circumstances.
1. Explanatory style—This is the habitual way of explaining
bad events. Three qualities of explanatory style that determine
optimism or pessimism are
a. Permanence—This is the belief that bad events that happen
will always be there to affect life. Optimists resist this belief
and see bad events as temporary. However, optimists feel
10 that good events have more permanent causes.
b. Pervasiveness—This is the belief that failure in one area
translates to all other areas of life. Optimists explain failure
as being specific to one situation rather than universal in
their entire lives. Again, however, good events tend to be
explained as being pervasive throughout people’s lives
if people are optimists.
c. Personalization—This is the belief that bad events are one’s
own fault rather than due to circumstances. Optimists believe
failures are not their own fault but rather due to
circumstances. But once again for optimists, good events
are due to strengths rather than external circumstances.
2. Seligman (1998) warns that too much optimism can erode a
sense of responsibility. Although one should not attribute all
events to external causes, those who are depressed should
work to change their explanatory styles to reflect the qualities
of optimism.
3. Overcoming pessimism—Two techniques can be used to deal
with pessimistic thoughts, although one works better in the long
run than the other.
a. Distraction—Distraction is trying to think of something else
besides the pessimistic belief. People may try to shift their
attention to another thought or schedule time later to think
over the negative belief. This technique is better when action
needs to be immediate and succumbing to negative thoughts
can be destructive. For example, a police officer goes into
a dangerous situation with unknown elements (do the people
have guns?). The officer begins to think, “I could get killed,”
and she begins to hesitate. Without distracting herself from
these thoughts somehow, the officer could be killed for
her hesitation.
 Content Outline...continued

b. Disputation—Disputation is arguing with oneself about

pessimistic beliefs. Going on the offensive against
pessimistic thoughts can help to change reactions from
being dejected to being optimistic.
i. Distancing—Realizing that negative thoughts are usually
unfounded can help people realize how destructive
pessimism can be. We would never tolerate insults
about ourselves from others, so why do we take them
from ourselves?
ii. Evidence—Checking for evidence that disproves
pessimistic beliefs is an effective way to combat them.
iii.Alternatives—When disputing pessimistic beliefs,
people should look for all the possible reasons for the
situation. Usually, situations have many explanations,
yet pessimists focus on the most harmful and defeating
one. Realizing the other alternatives can give a sense
of the changeable, specific, and nonpersonal causes
for outcomes.
iv.Decatastrophizing—What if the negative belief is
correct? Understanding that all possible implications
for the belief are not “the end of the world” can ease
the suffering the belief can cause.
B. Hope—Hope is the overall perception that one’s goals
can be met.
11
1. According to Snyder (2000), hope has three
necessary ingredients:
a. Goal-oriented thoughts—All nonrandom human behaviors
are directed by some goal, either short term or long term.
i. Goals need to be of sufficient value to the individual
so as to occupy conscious thought.
ii. Goals should be attainable yet uncertain in nature.
Goals that are 100% likely to be achieved do not
give people hope.
b. Pathways to achievement—To achieve goals, people need
to generate plausible routes to achieving them.
i. This type of thought process begins in infancy when
cause and effect relationships are first being
understood. Children see that certain actions influence
events that occur.
ii. Singular or multiple pathways need to be generated.
In fact, people need to generate alternative pathways
when they face obstacles.
iii.People with the highest levels of hope tend to generate
multiple pathways to goal achievement.
c. Agency thoughts—In this motivational component to hope,
people believe that they can initiate and sustain
the pathways to goal achievement.
i. This type of thought begins after 1 year of age when
children realize they are actors who can influence their
environment and initiate cause-and-effect relationships.
 Content Outline...continued

ii. The emphasis here is on thinking and not emotions,

which are byproducts of hope.
a. Positive emotions equal perceived success in
achieving goals.
b. Negative emotions equal perceived failure in
achieving goals.
2. In studies, hope has been linked to higher academic and athletic
performance, better adjustment, and better coping with health issues.
a. Performance—Hope is linked to higher standardized
achievement test scores but not to scores on
intelligence tests.
i. Higher hope and higher GPA are positively correlated.
ii. According to Curry (as cited in Snyder, 2000),
higher hope and increased athletic performance are
positively correlated.
b. Adjustment—The level of hope people have is related to their
perceptions about themselves and their goals.
i. People with higher levels of hope remember more
positive comments and events about themselves,
whereas people with lower levels remember more
negative comments and events.
ii.People with higher levels of hope feel challenged by
12 goals, whereas people with lower levels feel
demoralized by goals.
iii.People with higher levels of hope have higher feelings
of self-worth.
c. Health—Higher levels of hope are correlated with better
coping skills and higher levels of pain tolerance.
i. For spinal cord injury patients and adolescent burn
survivors, those with higher levels of hope showed
better coping with the problem, less depression, and
fewer harmful-to-recovery behaviors, and they
interacted better with caregivers.
ii. Using a cold-pressor test, Snyder and Brown
(in Snyder, 2000) found that higher hope correlated
positively with less perceived pain and greater
endurance for pain.
iii.For cancer patients, higher hope was related to greater
knowledge and better coping with the disease.

Activity 5.1 Measuring Optimism

Activity 5.2 Exploring Your Future: The Hope Scale
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE D
 Content Outline...continued
VI. The Good Life: Defining Character
by Applying Positive Subjective Experiences

A. People’s character refers to the enduring effects of life

experiences on the human psyche (as cited in McCullough &
Snyder, 2000). The qualities below that define “the good life”
enrich our lives, make them worth living, and promote strong
character. The hallmarks of positive subjective experiences are
integrated throughout areas of our lives.

B. Connections outward involve interactions with others that

enhance life experiences.
1. Love and intimacy—These are meaningful relationships, including
friendships, that involve loving and being loved.
2. Satisfying work/occupation—This is being committed to a vocation
and valued through it.
3. Helping others (altruism)—This is helping and being helped
and supported.
4. Good citizenship—This is participating in activities that have
public benefit and being respected in the public arena.
5. Spirituality—This is connection to a deeper meaning or reality.
6. Forgiveness—This is the ability to reconcile with those who offend
and to avoid retaliatory aggression against the offender
(McCullough, 2000).
7. Leadership—This is supporting the growth of those younger
who will be the future leaders. 13
C. Individual qualities include those that are enduring
and meaningful.
1. Integrity and ethics—This is living up to the principles and
dreams of life.
2. Creativity/originality—This is using information in a unique way
or creating new avenues of information.
3. Play—This is having a sense of fun and humor.
4. Subjective well-being—This is the pervasive sense that life
has been and is good.
5. Courage—This is being unafraid of death, being able to overcome
obstacles, and being willing to take risks based on principles.
6. Humility—This is the accurate assessment of abilities and
achievements where mistakes and limitations can be recognized.
Usually humility entails an ability to accept new ideas and advice
while maintaining a low self-focus and the appreciation of
the value of all things (Tangney, 2000).

D. Life regulation qualities involve those that guide day-to-day life.

1. Purposeful future-mindedness—This is the pursuit of personal
ideals and goals.
2. Individuality—This is the integration of personality traits into
a unified and distinct whole.
3. Self-control—This is the ability to alter one’s states and
responses, a key to the adaptation process (Baumeister &
Exline, 2000).
4. Wisdom—This is the capstone of the good life; the ability to
navigate the issues and pragmatics of life.
 Content Outline...continued

Activity 6.1 A Beautiful Day: Applying Positive Psychology

Activity 6.2 Pleasurable Versus Philanthropic Activities:
Which Bring More Happiness?
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES E & F

14
 Activities

I. CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES

Directions: Write a minimum-of-1-page paper discussing

the following questions.
Bring the paper to class for discussion.

A. How important is it to study positive human qualities? Should the

same amount of attention and funding be given to positive qualities
as to negative qualities (illness)? What advantages could be gained
from the study of positive qualities?

B. In what type of situation/activity have you experienced flow? Write

down how you felt during that experience. Did your flow experience
match the qualities discussed? In what ways?

C. Why do people choose pleasurable experiences over enjoyable

ones? Hypothesize the reasons.

D. As you plan for your future in college and then in the career world,
what do you envision yourself doing with your life? What is your
primary concern as you decide which career to choose? Why?
Do you plan to choose a service-oriented career? Why or why not?
If not, do you plan to engage in philanthropic activities?
15
E. What is the difference between pleasurable and philanthropic
activities? To what extent does each make you happy?
From which do you personally derive the most happiness? Why?

F. Describe the most creative thing you have ever done.

Why did you consider it creative?

Instructor’s Note. These questions could be used as a journal

assignment that continues throughout the unit, as essay questions
for tests, or as individual assignments.

II. CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Instructor’s Note. Several of these activities call for students to write

reflective papers detailing their experiences with each particular
concept addressed. With the popularity of portfolio assessment,
instructors may wish to have students compile these papers into a
“Positive Psychology Portfolio” to be turned in at the end of the unit.
Discussion of each activity can take place during the unit, but papers
can be submitted at the end of the unit to save time and prevent an
overload of papers to grade. In addition, many of the activities
require students to assess life goals and interests, and students can
keep their portfolios as a reference of these goals and interests
throughout their college years.
 DAY 1
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 2.1
Daily Mood Form
Ed Diener, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Randy Larson

Concept: To assess the content of a person’s emotional life, researchers have

sometimes asked volunteers to keep a record of their daily experi-
ences for weeks or even months. With this information, how much positive and
negative affect people experience can be determined. How do these areas
correlate with overall positive subjective experiences studied in this unit?

Materials: Enough copies of the Daily Mood Form (Handout Master A)

per student for several days of recording. This activity can span
past the unit duration, if desired.

Description: Distribute copies of the Daily Mood Form and instruct students
to record their levels of affect at roughly the same time each day
(before they go to bed, when they wake up in the morning, at lunch, and so
on). At the end of the exercise, have the students calculate their affect scores
and the frequency of their affect in the following way:

Compute a positive affect score by finding the average of the ratings for
“happy,” “joyful,” “pleased,” and “enjoyment.” Compute the negative affect
score by finding the average of the ratings for “depressed,” “unhappy,” “frus-
16 trated,” “angry,” and “worried.” Subtract the negative score from the positive
one to get a Global Daily Mood score.

To compute frequency of positive affect, divide the number of days in which a

positive score was given by the total number of days the reports were made.

Discussion: If the Global Daily Mood score is greater than zero, the subject
reported more positive than negative affect. If less than zero,
the subject reported more negative than positive. The average frequency of
positive affect among college students was 72 percent, with a range of
20 to 99 percent.

Diener and his colleagues report that frequency of positive affect scores was
associated with a number of traits reflecting psychological well-being and
adjustment, including high self-esteem, self-confidence, satisfaction with one’s
life, and cheerfulness. Other studies have found that positive affect is strongly
related to the personality trait of extraversion. In contrast, negative affect is
related to neuroticism, defined as the tendency to worry and become easily
upset. Interestingly, these relationships were found even when the mood
measures were taken a decade after the measures of personality.

Reference
Activity originally appeared in Bolt, M. (1998). Chapter 13: Emotion. Instructor’s resources
to accompany David G. Myers’ Psychology, 5th edition. 18. New York: Worth.
 DAY 2
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 3.1
Satisfaction With Life Scale
Ed Diener, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Concept: The Satisfaction With Life Scale was developed to assess people’s
satisfaction with life as a whole. The scale does not assess satis-
faction with life domains such as health or finances, but allows subjects to
integrate and weigh these domains in whatever way they choose. It is not a
long measure, but the scale’s validity has been tested in many settings and
countries and found to be high.

Materials: Enough copies of the Satisfaction With Life Scale

(Handout Master B) for each student to have one.

Description: Hand out copies of the Satisfaction With Life Scale.

Give students a few minutes to fill it out.

How To Score: Students should add the column of their responses

to come up with their scores. A score of 20 represents
a neutral level of satisfaction in which a person is equally satisfied and
dissatisfied with life.

Discussion: Satisfaction is distinct from well-being in both the areas of

degree and time. Satisfaction focuses more on a person’s 17
feelings about a given goal pursuit at a given time, while well-being relates to
a person’s feelings about many different goal pursuits across time. Students’
scores on the Satisfaction With Life Scale may be different depending on what
they have experienced recently. Their well-being may be high, but their levels
of satisfaction may fluctuate if they have experienced a blockage of goals—
getting lower grades than expected, not getting into the colleges of
their choice, or not making teams they tried out for.
 DAY 3
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 4.1
Creating Flow Experiences
Amy C. Fineburg, Homewood High School, Birmingham, Alabama
Based on the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, University of Chicago

Concept: Flow is the state of optimal experiences in which a person engages

in an activity simply for the sake of the activity itself. People who are
in a state of flow during activities are using high levels of skill and challenge
together to create an experience that is rich and personally beneficial. School
can often be devoid of flow for many students because they are engaging in
many activities for which a high level of skill and challenge is not likely to be
present. This activity will help students create flow experiences in their daily
lives, thus enriching their school experiences.

Materials: Transparency Masters C & D

Description: Step 1—Prior to teaching the concepts of flow, lead students in

a discussion about activities in which they have skill and enjoy
the challenges involved in participating (Transparency Master C). Brainstorm
as a class about the qualities of the skillful activities to determine how and why
those activities are more enjoyable.
Step 2—Following this discussion, present the qualities of flow

18
experiences. Be sure to discuss how the activities the students listed would
fall under the category of flow.
Step 3—Using Transparency Master D, brainstorm activities that
do not require skill or challenge and ways to make those activities become
flow experiences. Share with the students the following anecdote.

Professor Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, a German experimental

physicist, suffers from an occupational handicap common to
academics: having to sit through endless, often boring,
conferences. To alleviate this burden, he invented a private
activity that provides just enough challenge for him not to be
completely bored during a dull lecture, but is so automated
that it leaves enough attention free so that if something
interesting is being said, it will register his awareness.

What he does is this: Whenever a speaker begins to get tedious,

he starts to tap his right thumb once, then the third finger of
the right hand, then the index finger, then the fourth finger, then
the third finger again, and then the little finger of the right hand.
Then he moves to the left hand and taps the little finger,
the middle finger, the fourth finger, the index, and the middle
finger again, and ends with the thumb on the left hand.
Then the right hand reverses the sequence of the tapping,
followed by the reverse of the left hand’s sequence. It turns out
that by introducing full and half stops at regular intervals, there
are 888 combinations one can move through without repeating
the same pattern (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
While most students may not create such elaborate games to play while
listening to boring lectures, they can engage in similar routine microflow
activities that will bring enjoyment to otherwise low-skill and low-challenge
activities. Examples of other, less complicated microflow experiences may
include doodling, chewing on gum or pencils or pen tops, smoothing hair,
or humming a tune.

The Challenge: Once Step 3 is complete, have students choose one way
in which they can make a low-skill and low-challenge activity
into a flow experience. During the next couple of days (instructor’s choice)
students should engage their microflow strategies during a particularly
non-flow experience, such as a lecture. Students will write a short paper
about this experience addressing the following questions:
• In what microflow activity did you engage? In what situation was
the microflow activity used? What were the qualities of this situation
that made it a nonflow experience for you?
• How did you make the microflow activity provide challenge for you
while you were engaged in it? How could you make it provide even
more challenge in the future as you become more skilled at
the microflow activity?
• How do you create flow in situations in which you are skilled?

Discussion: Most students are skilled in some activity in which they engage,
but trouble arises in relatively boring situations or in situations
that present a low level of challenge. Microflow activities help people over-
19
come boring, tedious situations in which escape is usually impossible without
consequences (like school attendance). While microflow types of activities
help in inescapable situations, life is not enhanced by them overall. Students
need complex, demanding, and high-skill activities that will produce flow and
will also provide something to look forward to during boring experiences.
As Dr. Mike Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced as “Cheek-sent-me-high”) says
in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, “Enjoyment
appears at the boundary of boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are
balanced with the person’s capacity to act.”

Reference
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
New York: HarperCollins.
 DAY 4
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 5.1
Measuring Optimism
Martin E. P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania

Concept: The level of optimism people possess is a predictor of depression

both currently and in the future. This test of optimism will help your
students see their overall levels of optimism and in which area—permanence,
pervasiveness, or personal—they have more pessimistic thoughts.

Materials: Sufficient copies of the Optimism Questionnaire

(Handout Master C) and the Scoring the Optimism Questionnaire
handout (Handout Master D) so that each student will have one.

Description: Instruct the students to take as much time as they need to

answer each of the questions. On average, the test takes about
15 minutes to complete, so this might serve as a good homework assignment
instead of a class assignment. There are no right or wrong answers.

Discussion: Hand out the sheet “Scoring the Optimism Questionnaire.”

Give the students time to total their scores, and then discuss
their feelings about their scores. Did they score as high or as low as they
anticipated? Why or why not? In answering the questions, did they see any
20 trends in their answers? In which areas did they score the best or worst?
What can the students do with the information they learned from this exercise?

Reference
Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life
(2nd ed.). New York: Pocket Books.
 DAY 5
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 5.2
Imagining Your Future: The Hope Scale
C. R. Snyder, University of Kansas

Concept: Hope is defined as the overall perception that a person’s goals can
be met. The primary components of hope are pathways
(the perceived ability to generate routes to achieve goals) and agency
(the willpower or energy to get moving toward one’s goals). The following
activity will measure the amount of hope students possess and help them to
see a relationship between their future goals and their current levels of hope.

Materials: Sufficient copies of the Goals Scale (Handout Master E)

so each student will have one.

Description: Ask students to close their eyes and think of the future.
Give them a few seconds and then ask what came to their minds
and how long it took for them to picture something. Notice the quality of the
goals the students have, especially whether they are intrinsic or extrinsic in
nature. Discuss with the students how most people have good ideas about
the goals they have for their futures. People are generally goal oriented,
and those goals are usually intrinsic. Once discussion is satisfactory, pass out
the Goals Scale and give the students a few moments to complete it. It is not
long, so it should not take much time to complete. Once completed, instruct
students on how to score the scale. The instructions follow.
21
For the agency score: Add items 2, 9, 10, and 12.
For the pathways score: Add items 1, 4, 6, and 8.
Distracters are items 3, 5, 7, and 11 to make the goal of the scale less
obvious. (This section may lead to a discussion of the purpose of distracters in
experimental research. Because classroom conditions are not experimental in
nature, it is not the intention for students to be fooled by the distracters.)

Note. When administering this, we call it the “Goals Scale” rather than
the “Hope Scale” because on some initial occasions when the scale
was administered, people became so interested in the fact that hope could be
measured that they wanted to discuss this rather than taking the scale.
No such problems have been encountered with the rather mundane title
“Goals Scale.”

Reference
Activity originally appeared in Bolt, M. (1998). Chapter 13: Emotion. Instructor’s resources to
accompany David G. Myers’ Psychology, 5th edition. 18. New York: Worth.
 DAY 6
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 6.1
A Beautiful Day: Applying Principles of Positive Psychology
Martin E. P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania

Concept: Positive psychology seeks to understand the qualities of

the good life, encompassing positive subjective experiences and
the qualities that define them. This activity will challenge students to explore
their own definitions of the good life as they apply the concepts studied
throughout the unit.

Materials: None.

Description: After discussing the qualities of positive subjective experience

and what constitutes “the good life,” propose the following
to the students:

Design a beautiful day (a 24-hour clock day) that is within the realm of
possibility for you to live currently. Explain why you chose each element.

Have students bring in their designs for discussion. This discussion is to help
the instructor be sure that the students understand what the research says
about positive subjective experiences and “the good life.” Once discussion
22 has come to a satisfactory conclusion, present the following assignment
to the students:

Try to live that day and report your feelings while including answers to
the following questions:
Part 1: Were you successful in living that day?
Why or why not? Were all of the qualities of your beautiful
day truly beautiful? Why or why not? What would you now
change about your perception of a beautiful day?

Part 2: Is there any action you might take to move toward

achieving a “beautiful day” on a more regular basis?
How does your concept of a “beautiful day” fit in with
your life’s goals?
 DAY 7
PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology A 7-Day Unit Plan for High School Psychology

Activity 6.2
Pleasurable Versus Philanthropic Activities—
Which Bring More Happiness?
Martin E. P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania

Concept: Research on flow and optimism shows that positive affect lasts
longer after a person is engaged in rewarding yet challenging
activities rather than in activities that bring just physical or homeostatic
pleasure. Students routinely engage in both types of activities, but the
common belief is that pleasurable activities are more satisfying than
philanthropic ones. This activity will help students become aware of their
feelings in regard to these two types of activities and lead to discussion of
which type of activity creates more positive affect.

Materials: None.

Description: Have students brainstorm and write down what activities

they have participated in during the last week that were
pleasurable and/or philanthropic. Have them reflect on how the activities
differed, how each type of activity made them feel afterward, and how long
those feelings lasted. After the discussion, instruct students to notice when
they participate in activities that are pleasurable and/or philanthropic over
the next 3 to 5 days (instructor’s choice). They should address the following
questions in their papers/discussion:
23
• What were the specific differences in each type of activity?
• What type of emotions did you feel during each type of activity?
• How long did the generally positive emotions you experienced during
each type of activity remain with you afterward?

Note. Some students may not feel as though they participate in philanthropic
activities. Although likely to be false, this belief may hinder students
from completing this activity successfully. Some have argued that assigning
philanthropy tends to neutralize the altruistic qualities of the activity, so it may
be necessary to assign or suggest some simple philanthropic activities to
students who have trouble with the concept. Some suggestions may include:

• Helping someone younger with homework

• Paying someone’s toll
• Holding the door open for someone behind you
• Letting someone get in front of you in line at a restaurant or store
• Doing chores around the house that are not normally yours or
that you weren’t asked to do
• Serving in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter

These are only suggestions and might help students more accurately
recognize philanthropic activities in their lives.
 Discussion: The primary difference between pleasurable and philanthropic
activities centers on who is affected by the activity. Pleasurable
activities benefit the self, while philanthropic ones benefit others. Research on
the “good life” suggests that people are happier when they are helping others
rather than just benefiting the self.

24
Transparency Masters
 Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Transparency Master A Unit Plan for
Wealth and Well-Being–
The United States High School
Psychology

$20,000 100 %

$18,000 90%

PERS O N AL IN C O ME
(in 1995 dollars) 80%
$16,000

$14,000 70%

$12,000 60%
27
$10.000 50%

$8,000 VERY H APPY 40%

◆ (%)
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆◆
$6,000 ◆ ◆ ◆◆ ◆ ◆◆ ◆ ◆◆◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ 30%
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
◆

$4,000 20%

$2,000 10%

$0 0%

1957 1965 1973 1981 1989 1998

Myers, D. G. (1992). The pursuit of happiness: discovering

the pathway to fulfillment, well-being, and enduring
personal joy. New York: Avon.
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Transparency Master B
Graphical Representation of Flow
High School
Psychology

HIGH CHALLENGE

ANXIETY FLOW

HIGH SKILLS
LOW SKILLS

28

APATHY BOREDOM

LOW CHALLENGE

Bolt, M. (1998). Chapter 13: Emotion. Instructor’s resources

to accompany David G. Myers’ psychology, 5th edition. 20.
New York: Worth.
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Transparency Master C Unit Plan for
Activities That Require
Skill and Challenge High School
Psychology

Activities that Require Enjoyable Qualities

Skill and Challenge of These Activities

29
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Transparency Master D
Activities that DO NOT Require
High School Skill and Challenge

Psychology

Activities that DO NOT Require Ways To Create Flow

Skill and Challenge in These Activities

30
Handout Masters
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master A Unit Plan for
Daily Mood Form
High School
Psychology

Daily Mood Form

Name:

Day #: Date:

Please indicate how much of each emotion

you felt today.

1 Not at all
2
3
Very slight
Somewhat
33
4 Moderate amount
5 Much
6 Very much
7 Extremely much

_______ Happy

_______ Depressed/Blue

_______ Joyful

_______ Pleased

_______ Frustrated

_______ Angry/Hostile

_______ Enjoyment/Fun

_______ Worried/Anxious

_______ Unhappy
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master B
Satisfaction With Life Scale
High School
Psychology

Directions: Below are five statements with which you may agree
or disagree. Using the 1-7 scale below, indicate your agreement with
each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding
that item. Please be open and honest in your response.

Scale
1 = Strongly Disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Slightly Disagree
4 = Neither Agree or Nor Disagree
34 5 = Slightly Agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly Agree

____ 1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.

____ 2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
____ 3. I am satisfied with life.
____ 4. So far I have gotten the important things
I want in life.
____ 5. If I could live my life over,
I would change almost nothing.

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larson, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satis-
faction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master C Unit Plan for
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

Directions: For each question, pick the choice that best describes
how you would explain the given situation. Although you may not have
experienced the situation before, put yourself in that situation
to determine how you would respond.

1. The project you are in charge of is a great success. PsG

a. I kept a close watch over everyone’s work. 1
b. Everyone devoted a lot of time and energy to it. 0

2. You and your boyfriend/girlfriend make up after a fight. PmG

a. I forgave him/her. 0
b. I’m usually forgiving. 1

3. You get lost driving to a friend’s house.

a. I missed a turn.
PsB
1
35
b. My friend gave me bad directions. 0

4. Your boyfriend/girlfriend surprises you with a gift. PsG

a. He/she just got a raise at work. 0
b. I took him/her out to a special dinner the night before. 1

5. You forget your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s birthday. PmB

a. I’m not good at remembering birthdays. 1
b. I was preoccupied with other things. 0

6. You get a flower from a secret admirer. PvG

a. I am attractive to him/her. 0
b. I am a popular person. 1

7. You run for a community office position and you win. PvG
a. I devote a lot of time and energy to campaigning. 0
b. I work very hard at everything I do. 1

8. You miss an important engagement. PvB

a. Sometimes my memory fails me. 1
b. I sometimes forget to check my appointment book. 0
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master C
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

9. You run for a community office position, and you lose. PvB
a. I didn’t campaign hard enough. 1
b. The person who won knew more people. 0

10. You host a successful dinner. PmG

a. I was particularly charming that night. 0
b. I am a good host. 1

11. You stop a crime by calling the police. PsG

a. A strange noise caught my attention. 0
b. I was alert that day. 1

36 12. You were extremely healthy all year. PsG

a. Few people around me were sick, so I wasn’t exposed. 0
b. I made sure I ate well and got enough rest. 1

13. You owe the library $10 for an overdue book. PmB
a. When I am really involved in what I am reading,
I often forget when it’s due. 1
b. I was so involved in writing the report
I forgot to return the book. 0

14. Your stocks make you a lot of money. PmG

a. My broker decided to take on something new. 0
b. My broker is a top-notch investor. 1

15. You win an athletic contest. PmG

a. I was feeling unbeatable. 0
b. I train hard. 1

16. You fail an important examination. PvB

a. I wasn’t as smart as the other people taking the exam. 1
b. I didn’t prepare for it well. 0

17. You prepared a special meal for a friend,

and he/she barely touched the food. PvB
a. I wasn’t a good cook. 1
b. I made the meal in a rush. 0
 Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master C Unit Plan for
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

18. You lose a sporting event for which you have been
training for a long time. PvB
a. I’m not very athletic. 1
b. I’m not very good at that sport. 0

19. Your car runs out of gas on a dark street late at night. PsB
a. I didn’t check to see how much gas was in the tank. 1
b. The gas gauge was broken. 0

20. You lose your temper with a friend. PmB

a. He/she is always nagging me. 1
b. He/she was in a hostile mood. 0

21. You are penalized for not returning your

37
income-tax forms on time. PmB
a. I always put off doing my taxes. 1
b. I was lazy about getting my taxes done this year. 0

22. You ask a person out on a date, and he/she says no. PvB
a. I was a wreck that day. 1
b. I got tongue-tied when I asked him/her on the date. 0

23. A game-show host picks you out of the audience

to participate in the show. PsG
a. I was sitting in the right seat. 0
b. I looked the most enthusiastic. 1

24. You are frequently asked to dance at a party. PmG

a. I am outgoing at parties. 1
b. I was in perfect form that night. 0

25. You buy your boyfriend/girlfriend a gift,

and he/she doesn’t like it. PsB
a. I don’t put enough thought into things like that. 1
b. He/she has very picky tastes. 0
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master C
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

26. You do exceptionally well in a job interview. PmG

a. I felt extremely confident during the interview. 0
b. I interview well. 1

27. You tell a joke, and everyone laughs. PsG

a. The joke was funny. 0
b. My timing was perfect. 1

28. Your boss gives you too little time in which to finish
a project, but you get it finished anyway. PvG
a. I am good at my job. 0
b. I am an efficient person. 1
38 29. You’ve been feeling run-down lately. PmB
a. I never get a chance to relax. 1
b. I was exceptionally busy this week. 0

30. You ask someone to dance and he/she says no. PsB
a. I am not a good enough dancer. 1
b. He/she doesn’t like to dance. 0

31. You save a person from choking to death. PvG

a. I know a technique to stop someone from choking. 0
b. I know what to do in a crisis situation. 1

32. Your romantic partner wants to cool things off

for a while. PvB
a. I’m too self-centered. 1
b. I don’t spend enough time with him/her. 0

33. A friend says something that hurts your feelings. PmB

a. She always blurts things out without thinking of others. 1
b. My friend was in a bad mood and took it out on me. 0

34. Your employer comes to you for advice. PvG

a. I am an expert in the area about which I was asked. 0
b. I am good at giving useful advice. 1
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master C Unit Plan for
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

35. A friend thanks you for helping him/her

get through a bad time. PvG
a. I enjoy helping him/her through tough times. 0
b. I care about people. 1

36. You have a wonderful time at a party. PsG

a. Everyone was friendly. 0
b. I was friendly. 1

37. Your doctor tells you that you are in good physical shape. PvG
a. I make sure I exercise frequently. 0
b. I am very health-conscious. 1

38. Your boyfriend/girlfriend takes you away

39
for a romantic weekend. PmG
a. He/she needed to get away for a few days. 0
b. He/she likes to explore new areas. 1

39. Your doctor tells you that you eat too much sugar. PsB
a. I don’t pay much attention to my diet. 1
b. You can’t avoid sugar: It’s in everything. 0

40. You are asked to head an important project. PmG

a. I just successfully completed a similar project. 0
b. I am a good supervisor. 1

41. You and your boyfriend/girlfriend have been

fighting a great deal. PsB
a. I have been feeling cranky and pressured lately. 1
b. He/she has been hostile lately. 0

42. You fall down a great deal while skiing. PmB

a. Skiing is difficult. 1
b. The trails were icy. 0
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master C
Optimism Questionnaire
High School
Psychology

43. You win a prestigious award. PvG

a. I solved an important problem. 0
b. I was the best employee. 1

44. Your stocks are at an all-time low. PvB

a. I didn’t know much about the business climate
at the time. 1
b. I made a poor choice of stocks. 0

45. You win the lottery. PsG

a. It was pure chance. 0
b. I picked the right numbers. 1
40 46. You gain weight over the holidays and you can’t lose it. PmB
a. Diets don’t work in the long run. 1
b. The diet I tried didn’t work. 0

47. You are in the hospital, and few people come to visit. PsB
a. I’m irritable when I’m sick. 1
b. My friends are negligent about things like that. 0

48. They won’t honor your credit card at a store. PvB

a. I sometimes overestimate how much money I have. 1
b. I sometimes forget to pay my credit-card bill. 0

Scoring Key

PmB______________ PmG ______________

PvB ______________ PvG ______________
HoB ______________
PsB ______________ PsG ______________

Total B ______________ Total G ______________

G - B ___________________________
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master D Unit Plan for
Scoring the
Optimism Questionnaire High School
Psychology

Seven categories are measured on the Optimism Questionnaire

and one overall combined score reflects your level of optimism.
Score each category separately first and then determine
the final composite score.

Permanent Bad (PmB)—

Believing the causes of bad events are permanent.
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
5, 13, 20, 21, 29, 22, 33, 42, and 46.
Record this total in the PmB line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 0 or 1, you are very optimistic on this dimension.

2 or 3 is a moderately optimistic score;
4
5
is average;
or 6 is quite pessimistic; and
41
7 or 8 is very pessimistic.

Permanent Good (PmG)—

Believing the causes of good events are permanent.
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
2, 10, 14, 15, 24, 26, 38, and 40.
Record this total in the PmG line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 7 or 8, you are very optimistic.

6 is a moderately optimistic score;
4 or 5 is average;
3 is a moderately pessimistic score; and
0, 1, or 2 is very pessimistic.

Pervasiveness Bad (PvB)—

Believing failures are universal and extend beyond the situation.
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
8, 16, 17, 18, 22, 32, 44, and 48.
Record this total in the PvB line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 0 or 1, you are very optimistic on this dimension.

2 or 3 is a moderately optimistic score;
4 is average;
5 or 6 is quite pessimistic; and
7 or 8 is very pessimistic.
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master D
Scoring the
High School Optimism Questionnaire

Psychology

Pervasiveness Good (PvG)—

Believing good events are universal and
extend beyond the situation.
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
6, 7, 28, 31, 34, 35, 37, and 43.
Record this total in the PvG line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 7 or 8, you are very optimistic.

6 is a moderately optimistic score;
4 or 5 is average;
3 is a moderately pessimistic score; and
0, 1, or 2 is very pessimistic.

42 Hope Score (HoB)—

A combination of pervasive and permanent beliefs
about bad events.
Take your PvB total and add it to your PmB total.
This will yield your hope score for bad events.

If it is a 0, 1, or 2, you are extraordinarily hopeful.

3, 4, 5, or 6 is a moderately hopeful score;
7 or 8 is average;
9, 10, or 11 is moderately hopeless; and
12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 is severely hopeless.

Personalization Bad (PsB)—

Believing faults are personal and internal and, therefore,
difficult to change.
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
3, 9, 19, 25, 30, 39, 41, and 47.
Record this total in the PsB line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 0 or 1, you have very high self-esteem.

2 or 3 is a moderate self-esteem;
4 is average;
5 or 6 indicates low self-esteem; and
7 or 8 indicates very low self-esteem.
Positive Psychology A 7-Day
Handout Master D Unit Plan for
Scoring the
Optimism Questionnaire High School
Psychology
Personalization Good (PsG)—
Believing faults are external and not personal
Total the numbers in the right-hand margin from items
1, 4, 11, 12, 23, 27, 36, and 45.
Record this total in the PsG line on the scoring key.

If you totaled 7 or 8, you are very optimistic.

6 is a moderately optimistic score;
4 or 5 is average;
3 is a moderately pessimistic score; and
0, 1, or 2 is very pessimistic.

Computing the Overall Score

First, add the three B scores (PmB + PvB + PsB).
This is your Total B (bad events) score.

Next, add your three G scores (PmG + PvG + PsG). 43

This is your Total G (good events) score.

Subtract B from G. This is your overall score (G-B).

Interpreting the Overall Totals

If your B score is from 3 to 6, you are marvelously optimistic.
If it is in the 6 to 9 range, you are moderately optimistic;
10 or 11 is about average;
12 to 14 is moderately pessimistic; and
anything above 14 cries out for change.

If your G score is 19 or above,

you think about good events very optimistically.
If it is from 17 to 19, your thinking is moderately optimistic;
14 to 16 is about average;
11 to 13 indicates that you think quite pessimistically; and
a score of 10 or less indicates great pessimism.

Finally, if your G-B score is above 8,

you are very optimistic across the board.
If it is from 6 to 8, you are moderately optimistic;
3 to 5 is average;
1 or 2 is a moderately pessimistic score; and
0 or below is very pessimistic.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your

mind and your life (2nd ed.). New York: Pocket Books.
 A 7-Day Positive Psychology
Unit Plan for Handout Master E
The Goals Scale
High School
Psychology

Directions: Read each item carefully. Using the scale shown below,
please select the number that best describes YOU and put that number
in the blank provided.

1 = Definitely False
2 = Mostly False
3 = Somewhat False
4 = Slightly False
5 = Slightly True
6 = Somewhat True
7 = Mostly True
8 = Definitely True

44 _____ 1. I can think of many ways to get out of a jam.

_____ 2. I energetically pursue my goals.
_____ 3. I feel tired most of the time.
_____ 4. There are lots of ways around any problem.
_____ 5. I am easily downed in an argument.
_____ 6. I can think of many ways to get the things in life
that are most important to me.
_____ 7. I worry about my health.
_____ 8. Even when others get discouraged,
I know I can find a way to solve the problem.
_____ 9. My past experiences have prepared me well
for my future.
_____10. I’ve been pretty successful in life.
_____11. I usually find myself worrying about something.
_____12. I meet the goals that I set for myself.

Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M.,
Sigmon, S. T., Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991).
The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual
differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60, 570-585. Retrieved June 28, 2000, from
http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~crsnyder Used with permission
from C. R. Snyder.
 Suggested Reading
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience.
New York: HarperCollins.

McDermott, D., & Snyder, C. R. (1999). Making hope happen: A workbook for turning
possibilities into reality. Oakland: New Harbinger.

Myers, D. G. (1992). The pursuit of happiness: Discovering the pathway to fulfillment,

well-being, and enduring personal joy. New York: Avon.

Myers, D. G. (2000). Research-based suggestions for a happier life. Holland, Michigan: Hope
College. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 14, 2000, at:
http://www.davidmyers.org/happiness/research.html.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life (2nd. ed.).
New York: Pocket Books.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction.

American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.

Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope. New York. Free Press.

Snyder, C. R. (2000). Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications. New York:
Academic Press.

References
45
Baumeister, R. F., & Exline, J. J. (2000). Self-control, morality, and human strength.
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 29-43.

Bolt, M. (1998). Instructor’s resources to accompany David G. Myers’ Psychology, 5th Edition.
New York: Worth.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York:

HarperCollins.

Diener, E., Horowitz, J., & Emmons, R. A. (1985). Happiness of the very wealthy.
Social Indicators, 16, 263-274.

Diener, E., Suh, E. N., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being:
Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.

McCullough, M. E. (2000). Forgiveness as human strength: Theory, measurement,

and links to well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 43-54.

McCullough, M. E., & Snyder, C. R. (2000). Classical sources of human strength: Revisiting
an old home and rebuilding a new one. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 1-10.

McGuire, P. A. (1998, October). Seligman touts the art of arguing with yourself.
APA Monitor, 29. 3 pages. Retrieved October 18, 1999 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct98/talk.html.
 References...continued

Myers, D. G. (1993). The pursuit of happiness: Discovering the pathway to fulfillment,

well-being, and enduring personal joy. New York: Avon.

Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6, 10-19.

Saroyan, S. (1998). Happy days are here again. Elle. Retrieved October 18, 1999
from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/releases/days.html.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life (2nd ed.).
New York: Pocket Books.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Positive psychology network concept paper. Philadelphia. Retrieved

June 22, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.psych.upenn.edu/seligman/ppgrant.html.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction.

American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.

Sheldon, K., Frederickson, B., Rathunde, K., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Haidt, J. (2000).
Positive psychology manifesto (Rev. ed.). Philadelphia. Retrieved June 22, 2000
from the World Wide Web: http://www.psych.upenn.edu/seligman/akumalmanifesto.htm

Sigmon, S., & Snyder, C. R. (1993) Looking at oneself in a rose-colored mirror:

The role of excuses in the negotiation of personal reality. In M. Lewis & C. Saarni (Eds.),
Deception and lying in everyday life (pp. 271-286). New York: Guilford.
46 Snyder, C. R. (2000). The past and possible futures of hope.
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 11-28.

Snyder, C. R., & Clair, M. (1976). The effects of expected and obtained grades on teacher
evaluation and attribution of performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 75-82.

Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T.,
Yoshinobu, L., Gibb, J., Langelle, C., & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: Development
and validation of an individual differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60, 570-585. Retrieved June 28, 2000 from http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~crsnyder.

Tangney, J. P. (2000). Humility: Theoretical perspectives, empirical findings,

and directions of future research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 70-82.

Williamson, G. (1998). The central role of restricted normal activities in adjustment to illness
and disability: A model of depressed affect. Rehabilitation Psychology, 43, 327-347.

Williamson, G. (2000). Extending the activity restriction model of depressed affect:

Evidence from a sample of breast cancer patients. Health Psychology, 19, 339-347.
 A 7-Day
Unit Plan for
High School
Psychology

POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY